Can Intermittent Fasting Help Ease PMS?
For many women, handling premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can be a daunting task. PMS is referred to a group of changes that occur a few days before your menstrual cycle. It can affect you on many levels, including physical, mental, emotional and behavioural. A woman is most likely to get PMS symptoms one or two weeks before periods. Once the periods begin, the symptoms go away. Roughly, the symptoms of PMS include cramps, a bloated tummy, weight gain, mood swings, headaches, anxiety and depression.
Doctors usually don’t know what causes PMS, but it is usually in women lead a poorer lifestyle that experience more severe kind of PMS. Tips like having soaked raisins and kesar (as recommended by nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar) can help in easing PMS symptoms. Dr Siddhant Bhargava, MBBS, Food, Lifestyle, Wellness shares a few remedies that can help in getting relief from symptoms of PMS. Here are they:
1. Start intermittent fasting on the days of PMS: To follow Intermittent fasting, you need to divide your day in two phases: the eating phase and the fasting phase. As the name suggests, you are required to eat only during the eating phase and fast during fasting phase. During the fasting phase, you are only allowed to drink water (not even tea or coffee). Your fasting phase can last for as long as you want: 10 hours, 12 hours, 14 hours or 16 hours. An easy way to follow intermittent fasting is having an early dinner by 8 pm latest. You can then begin your fast overnight and have your next meal accordingly. Dr Bhargava says that intermittent fasting can help in reducing bloating, a common PMS symptoms.
Excerpted from NDTV
